The Cannonball read was started back in 2008. A friend of mine made a New Year’s Resolution to try to read 100 books in a year. And I thought to myself, well, shit, I can do that! And like everything else I do, I decided to make it way more complicated than it needed to be. I decided I would read 100 books. And I would have to post a review of every book I read as proof that I read them.

I asked for takers who wanted to join in, and I got one. Amanda, who went by the moniker AlabamaPink on the website Pajiba, offered to play along. The catch? Amanda had cancer. I was literally fighting cancer. In the form of a person with cancer. And because I’m a terrible person, I vowed I would destroy her.

So our Phineas Fogg like race began. I made the caveat that anyone who made a recommendation, I would accept it. Dustin Rowles at Pajiba offered to post our reviews on the site. And so the Cannonball Read was bornded.

During the course of our frantic attempts to finish 100 books, Amanda succumbed to her disease, after kicking its ass as hard as one could kick a brutal bullshit cowardly fucking disease like cancer. So I limped across the finish line, victorious but heartbroken.

At this point, other folks asked if they could join in. And I left the reins and went on my way. And in my absence, it has grown into a massive, all encompassing badassery. They have a website now. There are hundreds of folks that “compete.” They’ve got a fucking bookclub. And they offer links through Amazon where all proceeds go towards fighting cancer. It’s pretty goddamn amazing. I never would have done that.

The rules nowadays are: a Full Cannonball is reading 52 books in a calendar year (January 1 to December 31). And you must post a review on your own blog and on the Cannonball Read site for the book to count. (This is the part that fells most people.) . You are welcome to do a Quarter Cannonball (13 books), a Half Cannonball (26 books), or as many damn books as you want. There’s no grand champeen, there’s no trophy, there’s just the satisfaction of telling people about books you read and having them share or deride your opinion. Reviews are what get books read. Every one helps someone.

Last year, I was able to complete a Quadruple Cannonball (With a Quarter Twist!) . Yep. I read 208 books, plus 13 more. I didn’t post any reviews, so it doesn’t count for SHIT. But I did it.

And now, I’m going to run my mouth on a podcast to count for the Cannonball Read. I hope you enjoy. And if you don’t, well, I’ve written for the internet, so I don’t have feelings for you to hurt. Not…anymore.

Well, Who The Hell Are You?

Prisco spent a few years on your televisions as facial-expression furniture. He once wrote scathing reviews for bitchy people. He is responsible for Twenty-Sided Die, a collection of short stories about D&D playing nerds (think Stand by Me meets South Park), and the forthcoming sequel Other Worlds Than These. He also writes an ongoing splatterpunk novelette series called Boogeymen. He’ll probably start getting back to that again eventually. Occasionally he writes other stuff like plays and poems and shit. Sometimes he even makes money. Usually enough to buy a Wendy’s Triple Baconator. But, oh, how scrumptious that tastes. He currently lives in Ohio with his one true love, and his dog, Porkchop. By virtue of this last sentence, you can tell his feelings on the importance of the Oxford comma.